Good Friends (and Enemies) Are Hard to Find
For the true do-it-yourself (DIY) gamer, the work is not done in merely creating an interesting army: now that army needs a background story that fits with the 40K milieu developed by Games Workshop. Allies and enemies are a huge component of that background, or "fluff." The expressions "One is judged by the company one keeps" and "One is known by the quality of one's enemies" has special relevance for a DIY army.

In creating the Fighting Tigers, I have used actual games I've played (and plenty of poetic license) as the basis of my chapter's background story. While I could have made up everything from scratch, it felt more authentic and palpable to use actual victories and defeats, friendships and rivalries in crafting the Tigers' "fluff." Read along, and I think you'll see what I mean.

Allies: "I got your back"
The Fighting Tigers have fought for thousands of years across many worlds, but with the notable exception of the Space Wolves, most of their allies are found near Veda. Though the Tigers are unswervingly loyal to the Emperor and beloved by the people they defend, there is no great affection between them and the rest of the Imperium. The Chapter has, on numerous occasions, defied the Administratum, forged alliances of convenience with aliens (such as the Eldar and the Tau), and clashed with Imperial forces (such as the Dark Angels) that have offended them. These actions have won them few friends outside the Regulus star system, the Tigers' home.

Presented here are descriptions of the Tigers' few allies. Some of the following units were creations of mine from the days of Second Edition Warhammer 40,000. Back then, one was allowed (within certain limits) to bring units from other armies onto the field to fight alongside one's army. In addition to shoring up perceived weaknesses, Allies also allowed one the chance to do something different without investing a lot of time and money in a brand new army. With the advent of Third Edition, my Allies were forced into retirement, but some of them survive in the form of Themed Army Ideas.

Ebon Leopards of Kente:
Hailing from the hot and arid eighth planet of the Regulus system, the Kenteans are a fierce and honorable people whose warriors make excellent Imperial Guardsmen. Eschewing tanks and other vehicles, each regiment of the Ebon Leopards relies instead on infantry-carried heavy weapons. Want to read more about the Ebon Leopards of Kente?

Iron Lions:
The outermost world of the Regulus system is an icy rock with an atmosphere of ammonia and methane. Living and toiling beneath the surface are hundreds of Ogryns and their keepers, who mine the ores for the Tigers' forges. From time to time, the Imperium has selected several of these brutes to form fighting units, each nicknamed "Iron Lions." Want to read more about the Iron Lions?

Roary Tolman's Tomcats:
Liars, thieves, backstabbers--these are the more pleasant names assigned to Roary Tolman and his band of Ratling snipers. Unrelenting practical jokers, these sharpshooters are often more trouble to a commander than they are worth. Tolman is never to be found without his "lucky charm," a Space Wolf helmet that he claims he won in hand-to-hand combat with a Blood Claw during a "training session." Want to read more about Roary Tolman's Tomcats?

Screaming Jaguars of Tezcatlipoca:
Craftworld Tezcatlipoca was destroyed by Hive Fleet Ravana and its few survivors fled to the Regulus system, where the Tigers allowed them to settle on the seventh planet. The Screaming Jaguars, a subsect of the Howling Banshees, have fought alongside the Tigers before (notably against the Saracens). Lately, however, the relationship between the Tigers and these Eldar has cooled considerably, and the alliance is almost certainly doomed. Want to read more about the Screaming Jaguars?

Space Wolves:
The Space Wolves answered the Tigers' call for help in rebuilding after their losses against the Warband Bloodcomet (the forerunners of the Saracens) and the two Chapters have been fast friends ever since. The Tigers and Wolves have often fought alongside each other, with the firepower of the former a perfect complement to the assault capabilities of the latter. 

In particular, the companies of Ferin Ironhammer and Keric Quicbrand have had extensive contact with the Tigers, even conducting regular "training sessions" with them. When the Tigers were off-world during the Blood Deserts of Auros IX Campaign, the Space Wolves defended Veda against the Dark Eldar.

Tiger Eyes of Craftworld Kashmyrr:
Recruited to fight the Saracens and the hordes of Sho-T BigHed, the jetbikes of the Tiger Eyes excel in lightning-fast strikes against the fire support elements of the enemy. While this alliance was originally considered temporary, of late Craftworld Kashmyrr has asked for help against the encroaching Tau. The Tigers are debating involvement. Want to read more about the Tiger Eyes? 

Vedic Tiger Warriors: Created by Jennifer Burdoo
The Third War for Armageddon required (not without some confrontation) the first call-up of an Imperial Guard regiment from Veda. The Vedic Tiger Warriors are unskilled but ably led by seasoned foreign officers and backed by first-rate elite units. Currently, they serve on Armageddon, under the watchful eye of Commissar Acosta. Want to read more about the Vedic Tiger Warriors?
 
 

Enemies: "Go anywhere, fight anyone"
There are some 40K armies I just hate. I'm not saying they're cheesy or unbalanced or anything like that: sometimes I hate them because they've trashed my Tigers; sometimes I hate them because the person playing them was really obnoxious; sometimes I hate them because I completely oppose that army's philosophy (especially Chaos and Dark Eldar).

Taking games I've fought against these armies as inspiration, I've created this list of enemies and the stories behind why the Tigers hate them above others.

Blood Angels:
A delegation of Blood Angels, led by Mephiston, Lord of Death, visited Jatis Ghuyarashtra to discuss a joint campaign against a huge horde of Orks led by Nazdreg ug Urdgrub. During the delegation's visit, several native villagers vanished, abducted in the night, their neighbors said, by rakshasas--red, blood drinking demons. 

Having heard similar tales about the Blood Angels, the headstrong Raja Shamshir Talatra demanded an explanation from Mephiston, who rebuffed him. Fighting broke out before the delegation left Veda and the feud continues to this day: while Veda and Baal are too far apart (and the Chapters too busy) to actively engage each other, they have fought a number of times and are sure to do so again.

Dark Angels:
At one time the Dark Angels and the Fighting Tigers were allies, but no more. During a  joint training exercise on the barren moon of Regulus III, the Dark Angels abducted Rashna Marga, Tiger of Indra, and interrogated him for several hours in reference to an artifact he had discovered years before aboard a space hulk passing near Veda. Though the Dark Angels returned Rashna Marga unharmed, he was found to have undergone mindwiping to eliminate memories of where he had been taken, which individuals had questioned him, and details of what was said. 

The Tigers organized several punitive attacks upon the Dark Angels but thus far they have ignored Raja Khandar Madu's demands for an explanation and an apology. Want to read more about the feud with the Dark Angels?

Fearful Symmetry:
Recent divinations by Librarian Chandramatie Bahl reveal a new enemy rising from the Maelstrom. Who or what they are, she does not know. She only knows their name: the Fearful Symmetry.

Kabal of the Ozone Scorpions:
Syryx Lynatharr and the Kabal of the Ozone Scorpions lost a power struggle against Asdrubael Vect and the Kabal of the Black Heart and fled Commorragh. Settling on Veda, the Dark Eldar found it ridiculously easily to enslave the primitive humans of the Regulus Secundus system and exploit its great natural wealth. In their first action as a new Space Marine Chapter, the Fighting Tigers defeated the Ozone Scorpions, captured Syryx Lynatharr, and imprisoned him, alive and conscious, in a stasis chamber. Eight hundred years later, during the attack on Veda by the Warband Bloodcomet (see the Saracens), Lynatharr’s stasis chamber was damaged and he managed to escape. Want to read more about the Ozone Scorpions?

Red Corsairs (Astral Claws):
The Tigers have a tradition of fervently hating their enemies, but the one they hate above all others is the Red Corsairs, formerly the Astral Claws Space Marine Chapter (at right). A popular legend, never confirmed by Imperial sources, says the Fighting Tigers and the Astral Claws were created simultaneously using related geneseed. The Astral Claws became infamous for their treachery against the Imperium during the Badab War and survive (in a limited fashion) as the Red Corsairs. 

During the Badab War, the Fighting Tigers petitioned the High Lords of Terra to be sent against these traitors. The High Lords, fearing the Tigers may have been touched by the madness that claimed Lufgt Huron and his Astral Claws, ordered them to stay out of the war. The Tigers sat out the Badab War but won the right to pursue the Astral Claws that had escaped. It was the Tigers who discovered Huron’s return as Huron Blackheart, and they hunt him and his Red Corsairs to this day.

Whether or not the shared origin story is actually true, the Fighting Tigers believe it and have vowed vengeance against the Claws/Corsairs for bringing disgrace upon their lineage. 

Astral Claw image  © copyright 2000 by Games Workshop Ltd.; image provided by  Captain Stern's Imperial Database. 

Saracens: Initial concept by Thom White; developed by Patrick Eibel
For centuries, Chapter Master Hermann Weiss and his Knights Templar (descended from the Black Templars geneseed) guarded the systems due north of the Maelstrom. The Knights Templar won many battles, often alongside the Fighting Tigers of Veda, and were feared as ruthless warriors. Weiss was a proud and brutal man, however, and easily succumbed to promises of power and respect from agents of Khorne. Weiss converted many of his officers and eliminated those who would not be swayed; soon the Knights Templar served the Emperor in name only.

The Knights Templar revealed their true loyalties during a joint mission with the Black Templars.  Enraged that the Black Templars had reached the objective before his troops, Weiss and his Marines attacked their brethren, slaying several detachments before the Black Templars could escape. Openly declaring his allegiance to Khorne, Weiss renamed himself Baalzephon Zgorch and led his traitor Templars, now known as the Saracens, into the Maelstrom.

While his Saracens established a new base, Zgorch recruited a large number of Chaos Space Marines and organized them into the Warband Bloodcomet. Using them, he lured the elderly Shiva Nagordarika into a trap that, in the end, wiped out more than 800 Fighting Tigers, crippled Shiva, and killed millions of peasant warriors and non-combatants on Veda and neighboring planets.

The Warband Bloodcomet was destroyed but Zgorch lived on, his Saracens intact, ready to unleash Khorne’s wrath again.

Sho-T BigHed: Created by Patrick Eibel
Despite his comical name (a contraction of the Ork insult "Shorty Big-Head"), the Blood Axe Warboss Sho-T is no laughing matter. His raids against Regulus and other star systems are so ruthless and well organized that at first they were believed to be the work of Ghazghull Thraka. Sho-T is his own master and cunningly makes use of looted Imperial gear, numerous squadrons of swift and deadly Ork vehicles, and masses of infantry to overwhelm the enemy. 

The Tigers have fought Sho-T on numerous occasions and beaten his armies many times, but have never succeeded in killing him and ending his threat to the Imperium. Most recently, the Tigers engaged Sho-T during the Blood Deserts of Auros IX Campaign. 

Ulthwe Eldar:
At the urging of Raja Khandar Madu, the Fighting Tigers have revived their ancient tradition of exploring uncharted worlds. Recently, the Tigers discovered, just outside the Maelstrom, a small planet teeming with plants but with no higher lifeforms. Initial scans showed that there are ancient stone buildings of human design located haphazardly across the surface of this currently uninhabited planet, dubbed Ghaatii, (from the High Vedic Sanskrit word for “valley”).

A small force of Tigers has been exploring the planet. Ulthwe Eldar, led by the Council of Atoq, arrived shortly after the Marines and have bedeviled the Tigers on Ghaatii. The first encounter occurred as the Tigers were removing several artifacts of unknown properties from a ruined site: during the firefight, the artifacts (including a small stone statue of an octopoid figure) were lost or destroyed, whereupon the Eldar retreated.

The Ulthwe have attempted to thwart any further excavations at Ghaatii’s archeological sites, and indeed, have begun their own explorations, especially in Area 31 of the planet. Why the Ulthwe—who already possess unparalleled technology—would be interested in uncovering ancient human artifacts is not known. 

While the Eldar have mostly been successful, they were unable to prevent the Tigers from uncovering a sword-like weapon of obviously human design dating back to the Dark Age of Technology. As neither side has the resources to eliminate their rivals on Ghaatii, the conflict between the Tigers and the Ulthwe is sure to continue.

Ultramarines:
Upon hearing of the catastrophic losses the Fighting Tigers suffered against the Warband Bloodcomet, the High Lords of Terra accused the surviving officers of negligence and ordered a full investigation by the Inquisition. Until that investigation was completed, Second Company Captain Lucius Tiberius Britannicus of the Ultramarines was assigned command of Veda and the Fighting Tigers.

Britannicus’ years as Interim Chapter Master were tense. He wished to abolish all previous Tiger traditions and remold them to strictly adhere to the Codex Astartes; Rajas Surya Ashoka and Shrendi Vashtar resisted him at every step. Arguments and fights between Tigers and the Ultramarines stationed on Veda were common. The Tigers found the Ultramarines too proud and arrogant; the Ultramarines thought the Tigers inferior warriors, fit only to scare off pirates and other scum.

The investigation went on for eight years but finally the surviving officers were exonerated. The Rajas assumed command and continued rebuilding the Chapter. Britannicus, glad to be rid of the job, returned to his Second Company. Though that was millennia ago, the Tigers have long memories and hunger for revenge at what they perceive as their humiliation at the hands of the Ultramarines.

Yblis’ Bzrkx:
The Fighting Tigers first encountered Necrons when a small force materialized alongside a Tiger detachment and aided them against rebellious Imperial Guard. Apparently, this extraordinary (albeit momentary) alliance was only so that the Necrons’ patron, a being calling itself Yblis, could assess the Tigers’ strength. 

Yblis’ minions wiped out all humans on the planet Abrynn to lure a nearby detachment of Tigers into battle. The Tigers won, destroying Thoth, the Necron Lord in command. Yblis replaced Thoth with Centurion Lucifer and gave his army the name “Bzrkx.” They continue to strike at the Tigers and mankind. Want to read more about Yblis’ Bzrkx?

Related Pages
Ebon Leopards of Kente
Tiger Eyes of Craftworld Kashmyrr
Tigerskin Terrors of Craftworld Kashmyrr
Vedic Tiger Warriors

Reconciliation Fighting Tigers vs. Dark Angels (fiction)
Fearful Symmetry
Kabal of the Ozone Scorpions 
Blood Deserts of Auros IX: Tigers vs. Sho-T
Yblis' Bzrkx

Last updated: March 2008
 

Top